Feeding device for paper-box-making machines



(No Model.)

F. D. HARPER. FEBDING DEVIGB POR PAPER BOX MAKING MACHINES. No. 498,976. Patented June 6, 1893.

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PATENT FRED D. HARPER, OF WOONSOCKET, RHODE ISLAND, ASSIGNOR TO EUGENE H. TAYLOR AND GEORGE E. GOODING, OF LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS.

FEEDING DEVICE FOR PAPER-BOX-MAKING MACHINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 498,976, dated June 6, 1893.

Application filed August 23,1892. Serial No. 443.873. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern: i Be it known that I, FRED D. HARPER, o Woonsocket, county of Providence, State of Rhode Island, have invented an Improvement in Feeding Devices for Paper-Box-Making Machines, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like letters and figures on the drawings representing like parts.

This invention has for its object the improvement of paper box making machines, and relates more especially to improvements in the blank feeding mechanism.

My improvements are illustrated in connection with the machine such as shown in United States Patent No. 418,690, granted to Cushman and Taylor, and to which reference may be had. In the machine shown in the said patent the blanks were fed one after the other from the bottom of a pile of blanks by a feeder which pushed the said blanks forward along narrow tracks, and if there were no variation in the thickness of the blanks they were properly fed into position to be acted upon by the box former and bent into shape. If in said machine,which is sometimes the case, ablank thicker than the average is presented to the feeder it will be caught against the end gage and be crushed or torn and the occurrence of a thinner blank will allow the feeder to engage not only the lowermost blank but the next one above it also, in which event one or f both blanks are spoiled and the machine is stopped.

In' this my invention I have devised means for positioning and feeding the blanks one after another, so that no matter whether thereto to enable my invention to be under- 5o stood. Fig. 2, in vertical section, enlarged, shows the end gage finger forming part of my invention; and Figs. 3, 4. and 5, are details to be referred to.

The feeding frame B4, feeder B5 connected therewith and having its forward end beveled at 2, guide D, guide-rods D', DX, stops a3 adj ustably connected to the guide D by screws a2, the head a5 having the rod a6, and the bearing as forming part of a bracket are and] may be the same as the correspondingly lettered parts in the patent, No. 418,690, referred to. The feeding frame B4 having the feeder'B-r connected therewith, as stated, is reciprocated by or through arms B3, only one of which is herein shown, said arms being the same as the correspondingly lettered parts in the patent referred to, and being slotted at their upper ends to embrace pins 200 secured to and projecting from the sides of the frame B4, one of the pins being herein shown by dotted lines, the same forming no part of this my invention. The front face of the head a5 is vertically grooved to receive the back of the end gage or finger d, shown as a vertical bar heldin place in said head by gibs a', through which are extended suitable screws, only one of said gibs being shown, see Fig. l, said gage being vertically adjustable in the head a5 by means of a screw d10, and collar a thereon engaging a recessed eye or collar cl2, see Fig. l, at the back of the end gage a, the threaded portion of the screw entering the top of the head a5, rotation of said screw raising or lowering the end gage a as desired. In this my invention the lower end of said end gage is beveled at b, see Figs. l and 2, upwardly and away from its front edge 3 in the direction of the feed of the blank, and has applied to ita gage-plate b', the said plate being represented as slotted longitudinally at b2, see Fig. 5, and as held thereon loosely by screws c, c', extending through said slot into the end gage, the rearmost end of the said gage-plate being acted upon, as shown, by a suitable spring CZ, shown as a fiat spring secured to the back of the gage-plate is shown as slotted at b3 to receive the spring. The gage-plate h is adapted to slide on the beveled part of the end gage against the action of the spring, by pressure upon its lower forward edge, the end gage being thus a diagonally or upwardly movable gage, it being guided in its movements and retained in position by the slot h2 and screws c, c', the latter also limiting the extent of longitudinal movement of the gageplate, the spring CZ acting upon said gageplate to keep it normally in its full line position, Fig. 2.

A bar c is attached to the feeder B5 immediately back of its beveled end 2, see Fig. l.

Upon the upper side of the feeder B5 at its rear end, I have adj ustably secured by a set screwfan auxiliary feeding device, it being shown as a thin plate f longitudinally slotted at f2, the screw f extending through the slot and entering the feeder B5. This plate f is so adjusted with relation to the bar e and the width of the blank, that when the feeder B5 is in its extreme forward position, shown in Fig. 1, the forward edge of the auxiliary feeder will have engaged the bottom blank of the pile of blanks C, and pushed it slightly forward, as shown best in Fig. 1,so that the leading edge of the said blank will be beyond the gage-plate b', the thickness of the plate f being'less than the thickness of an average blank, the feeder B5 being shown inv Fig. 1 as simultaneously discharging a blank f4 from in front of the bar c. Vhen the feeder B5 is moved back into its starting position, the bar e will be carried back beyond the rear edge of the bottom blank, but not beyond the rear edges of the blanks above it, and accordingly, when the forward movement of the feeder B5 takes place the bar e can engage only the edge of the bottom blank previously pushed forward by the auxiliary-feeder, thus making it impossible for more than one blank to be fed forward at a time.

The feeder B5 is reciprocated by means of the arms B5, shown in Fig. l, the slotted upper ends of said arms engaging pins, see dotted lines Fig. l, secured to the feeding frame B4.

Referring now to Fig. 2,m in full lines represents a blank supposed to, be of average thickness, while n, in dotted lines, represents a blank thicker than the average. The end gage a is so adjusted vertically that its lower edge 3 will admit thereunder the thickest blank that may be in the pile, the lower forward edge of the upwardly sliding gage-plate b being of such thickness that the opening lett below it is sufficiently high to freely admit a blank of average thickness. Should a blank ofthe maximum thickness be presen ted, its leading end will impinge against the edge of the yielding gage-plate b and cause it to slide upwardly and forward over the beveled end b of the end gage a, against the action of the spring d, until the said gage-plate has taken the position shown by dotted lines Fig.

2, when the blank will slip past the edge of the foot and be carried forward by the feeder. As soon as the rear end of'the blank has been carried beyond and away from the gage-plate, the latter will slide back into its normal full line position, under the action of the spring d. It will thus be seen that by first moving the bottom blank forward a short distance by the auxiliary feeder or plate f, that blank only can be engaged by the bar e of the feeder B5 upon its return to starting position, said bar not being retracted far enough to engage any of the blanks above the bottom one, so that whether it be thicker or thinner than the average, only one blank, and that the bottom one, can be fed at a time, and further, bythe employment of the yielding gage-plate on the end gage, thicker blanks will not be stopped thereat as they are being fed.

Having described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters'Patent, 1s

l. In a machine for the manufacture of paper boxes, an end gage provided with a yielding gage-plate to prevent more than one blank being fed forward at a time, and to accommodate blanks of different thicknesses, combined with a feeder to strike against the rearmost edge of the blank and carry it away from the pile of blanks, and an auxiliary feeding device to move the blank forward before it is engaged by the feeder, substantially as described.

2. In a machine for the manufacture of paper boxes, a vertically adjustable end gage, and a spring-controlled gage plate for said end gage, combined with a feeder to strike against the rearmost edge of the bottom blank of a pile and carry it therefrom, and an auxiliary feeding device to move the bottom blank forward before it is engaged by the feeder, substantially as described.

3. A head, a gage vertically adjustable therein and having its lower end beveled, a sliding gage. plate movable on said end, and a spring to move said gage plate in one direction, combined with a feeder' to strike against the rearmost edge of the bottom blank of a pile and move it under said end gage, the sliding plate thereof being engaged and moved more or less upon the beveled end of the gage by blanks of different thicknesses, substantially as described.

a. In a machine for the manufacture of paper boxes,a gage to prevent more than one blank from being fed forward at a time, combined with a feeder for the blank, and an adjustable auxiliary feeding device to engage and move the bottom blank of` a pile out therefrom a short distance before it is engaged by the feeder, and means to adjust the auxiliary feeding device with relation to the feeder, substantially as described.

5. A head, an end gage vertically adjustable thereimand having a yielding gage-plate to act upon the blanks one at a time, com- IOO IIO

bined with a feeder to strike against the rearmost edge of a blank and carry it from the pile, and an auxiliary feeding device adjustably connected to said feeder, to engage and move the blank forward slightly before it is engaged by the feeder, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my naine to this specification in lche presence of two subscribing witnesses.

FRED D. HARPER.

Witnesses:

STANLEY G. SMITH, OCTAVE POTHIER. 

